Thousands of commercially grown oysters were released into the Oyster Bay on Wednesday.

The oysters were part of a surplus created by the pandemic. The COVID-19 restrictions that forced restaurants to shut down meant that the oysters never made it to diners' plates. Instead of being discarded, the Nature Conservancy stepped in to purchase the oysters and then donate them for release, in order to help keep the water clear.

"Every year we put thousands of oysters back into the bay - it helps the environment because each oyster filters 50 gallons of water per day," explains Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joe Saladino.

Oyster farmer Keith Powell, who is helping with the effort, echoes that reseeding the bay with oysters will help improve the water quality. "All of our waterways on Long Island, they need help and what we are doing is helping," he says.

Using the town shellfish hatchery, Oyster Bay is working toward placing 2 million additional clams and oysters into the bay.